A Russian drone strike on a passenger train in northeastern Ukraine killed at least five people on Tuesday, Ukrainian prosecutors said, drawing strong condemnation from President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, who described the attack as an act of terrorism and urged the international community to intensify pressure on Moscow.

The strike set the civilian train on fire in the Kharkiv region, with prosecutors confirming that fragments of five bodies were recovered at the site near a village. Images shared online showed multiple train carriages engulfed in flames beside a snow-covered rail track.

Zelenskiy calls attack ‘pure terrorism’

“In any country, a drone strike on a civilian train would be considered in exactly the same way – purely as terrorism,” Zelenskiy said in a statement on Telegram. He added that protecting civilian life must unite the global community and insisted that stronger pressure on Russia was the only way forward.

The train attack came just hours after Russian drones carried out overnight strikes on the southern port city of Odesa, killing three people and injuring at least 25, according to local authorities. Among the wounded were two children and a pregnant woman.

Widespread damage and power outages

Odesa Governor Oleh Kiper said dozens of residential buildings, a church, a kindergarten and a high school were damaged in the attack. Rescue workers continued clearing rubble on Tuesday, with officials confirming that at least two residents were killed when a multi-storey building was ripped open.

Ukraine’s private energy provider DTEK reported “colossal destruction” to an energy facility in Odesa, while Energy Minister Denys Shmyhal said around 7.1 lakh residents across the country remained without power following recent Russian strikes.

In Kharkiv, Mayor Ihor Terekhov said about 40 per cent of households were still without electricity a day after a combined drone and missile attack.

Fighting continues despite peace talks

Ukraine’s air force said Russia launched 165 drones overnight, of which 135 were neutralised by air defences. The attacks come as Russian and Ukrainian officials prepare for another round of US-brokered talks on Sunday.

Zelenskiy warned that continued strikes were undermining diplomacy and called on the United States, Europe and other allies not to remain silent, stressing that meaningful peace would require sustained pressure on Moscow.